The Notre Dame College Falcons trailed by four with 1:34 in regulation, would rally to force overtime and then held the fifth leading scoring team in Division II basketball down in the second overtime period in a 104-94 double overtime thriller at Murphy Gym. Mike Sampson set a new NDC record with eight steals in the contest eclipsing the previous record (seven.) With the win NDC improves to 11-9 and 8-6 in the MEC, while Glenville State dropped to 7-10 and 4-9 in the MEC after the loss.
NDC Head Coach Mark Richmond talked about the fight of his team:
"We found a way to win, "Richmond mentioned. " We didn't play great in the first half but we really battled to get this big win. I am so proud of our team for sticking with it.Obviously Mike was huge for us tonight, I don't think i've ever seen one of my guys get eight steals in a game. He made some huge steals down the stretch. I don't know how many he had after regulation but he was so good in big moments tonight."
Sampson talked about what led to the steals:
"I just had to stay aggressive. Coach allows me to take some risks and it paid off tonight, "Sampson explained. "It was smooth, amazing, just a lot of fun tonight."
The game went back and forth in the early going as it would be knotted at 10 after a Tyland Crawford layup at the 15 minute mark of the first half. Halfway though the opening half after Sampson split a pair of free throws the Falcons trailed 22-21. Zane DeSouza hit a pair of 3-pointer's and a Tommy Williams layup gave Glenville a 30-23 lead. Tommy Williams hit another 3-pointer that gave the Pioneers a 40-30 advantage with 1:25 in the first half. A Daylin Lee 3-pointer late in the half would make it 40-33 Glenville at halftime.
In the opening half the Falcons were led by Lee with seven, while John Godinez added five. The Falcons shot 45 percent from the field and went one of eight from the 3-point line in the opening stanza. They shot 75 percent (6-8) from the free throw line in the half.
The Pioneers were paced by John Williams with 10, DeSouza added nine, and Tommy Williams added eight in the first half. They shot 47 percent from the field, 36 percent (9-25) from the 3-point line and went one of two at the free throw line in the half.
Richmond talked about the 3-point line:
"We gave up nine 3-pointer's in the first half which is entirely too many."
DeSouza hit another 3-pointer for Glenville but NDC would answer as A Sam Jackson dunk and DeAirius Barker layup cut the lead to four (43-39.)
Barker talked about how his teammates give him confidence:
"It's my teammates that give me the confidence to keep going. It is growing (his confidence) and that is all attributed to these guys, "Barker said.
After a Luke LeRose 3-pointer it was 54-42 GSC with 12:35 on the clock. Willis hit a pair of 3-pointer's and Tyland Crawford made two free throws to cut the lead to six (56-50) with 10:15 to go.
Willis talked about staying with it and the team locking in:
"With about 10 minute left we were down double digits and we knew we needed to lock in, "Willis said. For me offensively I just needed to see the ball go through the hoop. I didn't need to force anything."
A Desouza 3-pointer stretched the lead back to nine but NDC would battle back again. With GSC up 65-57 Crawford and Willis would hit a pair of free throws and Willis made a jumper to trim the lead to three (66-63) with 2:58 in regulation. After a rebound and put back by Scarborough the next four points would go to the Falcons at the free throw line as two Crawford free throws with two minutes left cut the Glenville lead to 68-67. A 3-pointer by Tommy Williams with 1:34 to go would stretch the GSC lead back to four. A Sampson steal led to a Willis 3-pointer at the other end to cut the lead to 71-70 with 7.7 seconds in regulation. After a Pioneers turnover NDC had a chance to win it on the final possession. A layup was no good but Sampson grabbed the offensive board and was fouled. He would make one of two at the line. Sampson talked about that sequence:
"I saw the ball go up and went up to get it like I usually do. I need to get in the gym and work on my free throws." A long 3-pointer by John Williams at the end of regulation would be off the mark and we headed to overtime.
An old fashioned three-point play by Obinna Ugwuakazi would give the Falcons a three point lead to start the overtime. After a pair of Tommy Williams free throws Sampson made it a three point game but the Pioneers would tie it at 76 after a John Williams layup with 3:48 in the extra session. Crawford split a pair of free throws and Ugwuakazi got a steal that led to a Sampson layup at the other end. Another steal by Sampson would lead to a Crawford pair of free throws to put NDC up five. After a Willis layup NDC still led by five with under two minutes in the first overtime. An offensive rebound and put back by Scarborough followed by a 3-pointer by DaJon Congleton tied the game at 83 and sent the game to a second overtime.
Scarborough would get the and one to start the frame but Willis would answer with a three of his own. Again Scarborough would hit the offensive glass and get the three point play to make it 89-86 Pioneers. Sampson would get a steal and dunk at the other end to make it 89-88 Pioneers with 3:22 in the second overtime. Willis would give the Falcons the lead with a jumper and then another steal by Sampson led to a Crawford layup with 2:04 in the second overtime. Willis, Barker, and Crawford would salt this one away for the Falcons at the free throw line.
Richmond talked about the importance of free throws tonight:
"I was really proud of our guys tonight. To get to the free throw line 43 times is great, and to make 37. Crawford going 15-16, Willis 10-10, and Barker 5-6 was huge."
The Falcons were led by Willis who had 26 of his 30 points after halftime, Crawford added 21, Sampson netted 17 to go along with seven rebounds and eight steals, while Barker tallied 11 and four steals. As a team NDC shot 50 percent from the floor, 32 percent (5-16) from the 3-point line, and 86 percent (37-43) at the free throw line. They had 14 assists and 20 turnovers in the contest.
Glenville was led by Scarborough who had 25 points and 14 rebounds, John Williams had 19 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. DeSouza notched 15, Tommy Williams had 13, and Congleton scored 11. GSC shot 41 percent from the field, 34 percent (17-50) from the 3-point line, and 65 percent (11-17) from the free throw line. They also won the rebounding battle 43-39. The Pioneers had 20 assists and 27 turnovers on the night.
Sampson talked about the fight of the team:
"We have no quit in our team. We are a confident group and today proved we can fight through adversity to get a win."
Barker agreed:
"At the end of the day this team has each others back on and off the court. We love each other and have each other's back off the court as well. And ultimately that's how we play defense. If a guy makes a mistake the next guy has his back."
Tyland Crawford gave his thoughts post game:
"Just getting free throws reps up and up every day, "Crawford said." I've always been a good free throw shooter so I was disappointed in myself when I was shooting 60 percent at the line to start the season.Now it's knowing when the ball leaves my hand it's going in.Staying positive and relaxing at the free throw line has helped me shoot better."
NDC will be back in action on Wednesday as they host West Virginia Wesleyan. Tip time is slated for 7:30 PM.
Other MEC Scores Saturday:
Fairmont State 81 Charleston 66
West Virginia State 88 Frostburg State 77
Concord 85 Alderson Broaddus 80
Wheeling 74 Davis & Elkins 73
West Liberty 109 West Virginia Wesleyan 65
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 12-2 (18-2)
Fairmont State 11-3 (16-3)
Charleston 10-3 (14-4)
West Virginia State 10-3 (15-5)
NDC 8-6 (11-9)
Concord 7-7 (9-10)
Wheeling 6-8 (7-13)
Alderson Broaddus 5-8 (8-9)
Glenville State 4-9 (7-10)
Davis & Elkins 4-10 (6-13)
Frostburg State 4-10 (6-14)
West Virginia Wesleyan 1-13 (2-18)
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